HCHR_Kazem Gharibabadi, the Secretary General of the High Council for Human Rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran and the Vice President of the Judiciary for International Affairs, in a letter to Omar Zinibar, the President of the United Nations Human Rights Council and Volker Turk, the High Commissioner for Human Rights of the Unites Nations, while condemning the Zionist regime's attack to the Palestinian refugee camp in the northwest of Rafah and the Nusirat camp in Gaza, called for a special session of the Human Rights Council to investigate these crimes and creating a special and new mechanism to record and collect documents and evidence of widespread and serious violations of human rights and crimes against humanity and genocide of this regime in Gaza and Rafah, in order to take judicial and legal proceedings. The text of the letter is as follows:
“As you are aware, the army of the occupying and aggressive Zionist regime, in continuation of its crimes against humanity and genocide against the innocent people of Gaza, deliberately and knowingly launched an attack upon the Palestinian refugee camp situated in the northwestern vicinity of Rafah during the evening hours of Sunday, May 26, 2024. The reprehensible attack unfolded merely two days subsequent to the issuance of provisional measures by the International Court of Justice in The Hague, demanding the Zionist regime’s immediate cessation of operations in Rafah. The onslaught resulted in a rampant conflagration engulfing the tents and makeshift shelters used by the displaced. It unfolded within an area designated as a “safe zone,” where thousands of displaced Palestinians sought refuge subsequent to the initiation of the Israeli regime’s ground offensive in eastern Rafah.
The incursion led to the tragic martyrdom of over 200 Palestinian civilians, with hundreds sustaining injuries and others unaccounted for. A significant portion of the martyrs comprised women, children, infants, and the elderly—the remains of whom were tragically consumed by flames and dismembered, given the ferocity of the blaze. Regrettably, the assaults perpetrated by the Zionist regime upon Rafah and Gaza persist unabated, with dozens of innocent people being martyred on a daily basis. In a new crime, the army of this regime carried out massive attacks on the Al-Nuseirat refugee camp in the center of the Gaza Strip, killing and injuring more than 600 innocent people”.
The Israeli regime burned Rafah refugees in their tents with American weapons
“The dissemination of harrowing imagery depicting the aforementioned incident across various media platforms and social networks has profoundly unsettled global public sentiment, catalyzing a fresh surge of widespread demonstrations by both the general populace and university students against the Zionist regime. In capitals and major cities across Europe, the United States, and beyond, demonstrators have taken to the streets, resonating with chants such as “Israel, the killer of Palestinian people,” “Zionism epitomizes terrorism,” “Israel’s violence, Europe’s complicity,” and “Israel’s violence, America’s complicity.” Their collective outcry condemns the barbaric bombardment of the Rafah refugee camp while vehemently urging their governments to undertake tangible measures against the belligerent Zionist regime and to bring an immediate halt to such abhorrent transgressions against humanity”.
“The global outpouring of anger and abhorrence directed towards the atrocities perpetrated by the Zionist regime in Gaza and Rafah has reached such fervent levels that even certain Western politicians and officials, previously aligned with the regime in question, are now compelled to acknowledge these heinous acts; fearing the repercussions of public outcry, they have adopted a hypocritical stance, ostensibly calling upon the Zionist regime to safeguard civilian lives!! How can one believe the notion that Western governments and, notably, the United States—which have consistently stood by the Zionist regime by offering political, diplomatic, military and economic backing throughout its blind and all-out war on Gaza, and also have not hesitated to employ brutally oppressive measures to quell dissenting voices within their own borders, particularly targeting university student and grassroots movements that seek to condemn the regime’s egregious violations of human rights and perpetuation of genocide—have any genuine concern for the right to life and other rights of Palestinian civilians, displaced individuals, women, and children? It strains credulity to entertain the notion of sincerity on the part of White House officials when advising their Zionist counterparts to prioritize the protection of civilian lives; simply because the evidence presented through published images, videos, and expert testimony paints a starkly different picture—a narrative of the Israeli regime’s forces inflicting unimaginable horror upon the inhabitants of the Rafah refugee camp, utilizing weaponry supplied by the United States. They reveal that the Israeli regime incinerated the Rafah refugees within their tents using a U.S.-manufactured GBU-39 bomb, a product of Boeing!”
There are more than 15,000 children and more than 10,000 women among the list of Gaza martyrs
“The global landscape bears witness to a groundswell of public and student-led protests spanning continents, underscored by significant legal developments such as The Hague Court’s provisional measures compelling the Zionist regime of Israel to forestall acts of genocide in Gaza. Furthermore, the ICJ’s issuance of provisional measures aimed at curbing the regime’s aggression in Rafah echoes the growing chorus of condemnation against its flagrant transgressions. Critical denouncements from United Nations experts, notably the joint statement from 18 UN Special Rapporteurs on May 10, 2024, decrying the Israeli regime’s ground offensive in Rafah and the resultant displacement of civilians—predominantly women and over 600,000 children, including those who are injured—underscore the gravity of the situation”.
“In tandem with these legal and institutional interventions, political dignitaries alongside members of the artistic and athletic communities have prominently voiced expressions of condemnation, collectively underscoring the depth of isolation experienced by the Zionist regime. Yet, despite these concerted efforts, the Zionist regime unabatedly persists in its relentless campaign of violence. Regrettably, these actions have thus far failed to bring to a halt or stem the tide of the Zionist regime’s killing machine in Gaza and Rafah, nor have they succeeded in deterring its recurrent perpetration of atrocities against Palestinian civilians, particularly women, children, and the displaced populace”.
“According to the latest statistics, the toll of martyrs in the war on Gaza has now surpassed a staggering 36,000, with a heartbreaking tally of over 83,000 individuals left wounded in its wake. Among the grim roster of martyrs, tragically, are more than 15,000 children and over 10,000 women. Thousands remain unaccounted for, their fates obscured beneath the rubble of destruction, while the relentless onslaught perpetuated by the Zionists ensures that the ranks of the martyred, wounded, and displaced swell with each passing moment”.
Indeed, confronting the egregious atrocities perpetrated by the Zionist regime necessitates a concerted effort characterized by cooperation, solidarity, and coordination among all relevant stakeholders on the global stage. This coalition must encompass States, international governmental and non-governmental organizations, human rights mechanisms and bodies, media outlets, international public opinion, as well as influential figures, academics, and other advocates. In the face of the principal enemy that flagrantly violates the fundamental tenets of human rights and dignity, unity and consensus assume paramount importance and must be prioritized above all else”.
A special meeting of the Human Rights Council should be held to stop the mass killing machine of the Zionist regime and to record the documents and evidence of widespread human rights violations in Gaza and Rafah
“In light of the abhorrent crimes against humanity and the ongoing genocide perpetrated by the Zionist regime, the High Council for Human Rights of the Islamic Republic of Iran stands united in condemnation and extends heartfelt sympathies to the families of the martyrs, the injured, and all victims of these inhumane crimes. The High Council for Human Rights hereby urgently calls upon the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, as the preeminent human rights authority of the United Nations, and the President of the UN Human Rights Council to heed the impassioned plea of the Palestinian people, including the innocent women and children whose most basic rights, notably their right to life, have been callously violated by the aggressors and occupiers of the Zionist regime”.
“The High Council for Human Rights urges Your Excellencies to show solidarity and provide unwavering support for the demands of student and grassroots protest movements opposing the Zionist regime’s heinous crimes against humanity in Gaza, marshal all your international capacities to confront, resist, and ultimately halt the Zionist regime’s killing machine in Gaza and Rafah, and fulfill your bounden duty to safeguard the genuine rights and dignity of humanity, as enshrined within the framework of the United Nations. The urgent holding of a special session by the Human Rights Council to investigate the transgressions of the Zionist regime, coupled with the establishment of a new and special mechanism for the meticulous documentation and accumulation of evidence pertaining to the extensive and egregious violations of human rights, as well as crimes against humanity and genocide perpetrated by the Zionists in Gaza, is imperative for subsequent legal recourse and should be placed on the agenda tout de suite. The world anticipates your swift decisions and actions on this matter”.